Why You Need an Onboarding Process

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Making the decision to hire a new employee takes a lot of time and consideration. You have to determine what skills you’re looking for, how much you’re willing to pay, where they’re going to work, what type of benefits you are going to offer, and so much more. After all that time and preparation, you can still end up hiring a bad candidate, which is exactly why you need an onboarding process.

Having an onboarding process can help you determine if a candidate is right for the job. With an onboarding process in place, you can better engage with new hire, and create schedules for employee reviews. The onboarding process will help new hires better acclimate to their new work environment and in turn create a better work culture.

Onboarding is Cost Effective

No one likes to make a bad hire, but it happens from time to time. An onboarding process can help you in this situation a few ways. Through this process, you can determine early on if an employee is going to be a great fit. Rather than investing a few months’ worth of salary in a new hire, your engaging onboarding process, will help you determine if the new hire is a good fit. Another way you can save money is by having set plans in place. When you have set plans in place, each hire will go through the exact same steps, which means the process will become easier for you over time.

Onboarding Allows for Employee Engagement

Employee onboarding paperworkOne of the crucial steps often overlooked when a new hire starts is engagement. This step in the onboarding process goes beyond filling out paperwork and showing them to their desk. It involves making sure you’re prepared for them, helping them settle in, and introducing them to people in the office. By engaging employees during this process, you can help make them more comfortable in their new work environments. Check in with them a couple of time during their first day, and continue to check in with employees after 90 days.Employee Engagement

Onboarding Helps Create Culture

It’s no secret that company culture is hot topic these days, but many don’t understand that it’s really a result of the onboarding process because when you help ease people into your company, they can more easily become part of your culture. When they are comfortable, they can expand your culture, transform it, and even improve upon it, which will result in a better work place and create happier workers.

What does your onboarding process look like? Do you have any advice about onboarding new hires? Leave your suggestions in the comments below!

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Choosing Your References

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When you’re applying for jobs, filling out applications, sending out resumes, and even interviewing, one thing you need to have in mind is a list of references. Choosing your references is a crucial step in finding your next job or career. It might seem like no big deal to throw a few names and numbers down on a piece of paper and call it a day, but you need to put real consideration into who you choose to list as a reference.

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What is Company Culture?

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In the past several months, you’ve probably seen headlines, articles, blog posts, and even news stories surrounding company culture. If you’ve looked at any job postings, you’ve probably even seen some boasting a great work environment and company culture, but not all of those stories answer the question: what is company culture?

While company culture looks different in every office, there are a few things that are central to the idea of company culture. Something else you need to be aware of is that every company has a culture, but you need to cultivate a culture in which employees want to be a part of and feel included. When you do this, you can improve and grow your business because ultimately it is your employees who will do this for you.

Defining Values

The first step in creating, maintaining, and understanding your company’s culture is to define the values in which your company operates under. These values go beyond the mission and vision statements you have. Company values provide direction, support, and standards for employees, managers, and even owners of companies. Through values, you can begin to form and shape your culture into one of a successful company.

Work Environment

If you take a look around at articles discussing companies that have great cultures, you may notice high tech, design-heavy and creative offices. This might make you think that your company will never have a great culture, but the work environment is about more than pure aesthetics. Sure, having black walls and no windows probably isn’t a good idea, but work environment goes much deeper than that. Creating an environment where employees feel respected, trusted, and cared for is much more important. Provide employees with an environment that allows them to get their work done, but done in a way that allows for creativity and passion, and you’ll be on your way to improving company culture.

Engagement

A critical piece of the company culture puzzle is engagement. This goes beyond just talking to your employees every morning. Engagement is meeting with employees, discussing their work, their career development, their goals. Engagement is finding out what you can be doing better as an employer or manager. It also means being accessible to your employees. Create an environment in which employees feel comfortable talking to you about their work, issues, and ideas.

Employee Programs

Employee programs often get confused with fun things like ping-pong tournaments and beer Fridays. But what it really means is setting up beneficial programs for employees. These programs can include things like health initiatives, tuition reimbursement, community programs, monthly lunch, or annual company events. Employee programs serve to help you engage your employees and go above and behind to help them lead better, healthier, and happier lives.

How do you define company culture? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below!

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10 Common Resume Mistakes

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Writing the perfect resume is nearly impossible, but if you spend the time and put in the effort, you can craft a great resume. The real trick is avoiding common resume mistakes that will cause someone to just dismiss you as a serious candidate. When a recruiter or hiring manager sees a resume with mistakes all over it, they will more than likely throw it away and move on to the next candidate. Simply applying for a job and sending in a resume isn’t enough to get you the job.

Even the best laid out resume with all the bells and whistles can be pushed aside if there are simple mistakes on it. Before you start sending your resume out, you should look it over and make sure you aren’t a victim of these 10 common resume mistakes:

1. Typos and Poor Grammar

One of the biggest mistakes your resume can have is typos or poor grammar. When the person reviewing a resume sees these mistakes, your resume is dismissed right away. In order to avoid these mistakes, you need to use a spellcheck tool, read, reread, and reread your resume. You also need to consider having someone review your resume for these simple mistakes that are often over looked.

2. Duties Rather Than Accomplishments

It’s easy to simply list the duties of your current job and any past jobs you’ve had. However, not only is this lazy, it doesn’t really tell a future employer anything. Instead, you need to list accomplishments, projects, and tasks that you undertook in those positions. By doing this, you show what you have done, what you are capable of, and the results of those actions.

3. Lack of Dates

You may think that dates just aren’t that important, but if someone reviewing your resume sees a lack of dates or an inaccurate account of dates, then a red flag will go off. Don’t try to hide career gaps. If there are gaps in your resume, then you need explain them in your cover letter. Remember, career gaps can be a positive thing on your resume and in your career.

4. Missing Contact Information

As you are reviewing your resume, double check your phone number, address, and email address. It might seem like a stupid mistake, but if you do happen to put in the wrong number or street name, then how is someone supposed to contact you? Be sure this information is accurate at all times.

5. Bad Formatting

You might think formatting isn’t an important part of your resume, but if you submit a resume that lacks flow in the format, then the person reading it might just end up tossing it aside. While adding boxes and using certain types of fonts can make your resume look great on screen, you need to keep in mind that you will be sending your resume in an email (more than likely) and someone will probably be printing it out. Keep it as simple as possible because in most cases, an employer just wants the information and nothing else.

6. Non-Functional

In attempts to hide resume gaps and make your resume stylish, you may end up turning out a non-functional resume. Instead, you should be creating a resume that is chronological and focuses on your accomplishments rather than anything else.

7. Long Form Resumes

For some, when creating a resume, they want to cram everything they have ever done or accomplished onto the sheet. However, when your resume spreads beyond one or two pages, you lose the interest of those reading it. If you are already working with a long resume, consider trimming it down. You have limited time to get to the point, so get there early.

8. Paragraphs

Your resume should tell a story, but it should tell it in short sentences, highlights, and bullet points. Paragraphs should be used on cover letters and career objectives, but your job summaries and skills sections should utilize short sentences and bullet points. By setting your resume up this way, you can get your main points across and answer initial questions. You will also have a better chance at intriguing someone and get that much anticipated call for an interview.

9. No Real Qualifications

It’s tempting to go after our dream jobs and we should always be working towards them, but you can’t apply for them unless you are ready. Your resume needs to reflect the proper qualifications when applying for a job, so make sure you have real qualifications that match the job you are applying for.

10. Unrelated Personal Information

You may want to include personal information to your resume to help someone learn more about you, but no matter how fascinating it is, unless it pertains to the job, you should leave it off. Some are tempted to include hobbies, interests, and age on their resume, but it’s just not needed and often not welcomed.

As you review your resume, make sure the information is accurate, readable, and relevant to the job to which you are applying. Avoid common resume mistakes by double and triple checking what you’ve included and having someone else review it.

What resume questions do you have? Leave your questions and suggestions in the comments section below!
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7 Things That Lead to Career Development

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Whether you have a job or are currently looking for a job, you as the employee are in charge of your career development. If you already have a job, you might think you don’t need to develop anymore, but that attitude is a sure fire way to find yourself without a job. As an employee, you constantly have to be learning and seeking to be a better employee.

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4 Ways to Make Your Employee Onboarding Successful

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Whether you want to admit it or accept it, your company has an employee onboarding process. While this process looks completely different from company to company, it is important for every company (no matter how large or small) to nurture and define their employee onboarding process. So how do you make sure your new hire onboarding process is going to be successful?

It really isn’t as complicated as it may sound. In fact, following four rules when it comes to onboarding can help increase your employee retention, improve your employee engagement, and boost office moral.

Here are four ways you can make your employee onboarding successful:

1. Prepare for the new hire.

When the new hire starts, you need to be there and ready with all the necessary forms and paperwork they need to fill out. Instead of waiting until you meet with the new hire to print off any forms they need to fill out, have that ready to go so they aren’t waiting on you. Anything you can do ahead of time is going to make the entire onboarding process go smoother and it’s going to let the new hire feel like you are excited and ready for them to start.

2. Be open and honest with the new hire.

When it comes to letting a new hire know what is expected of them, it’s crucial that you are open and honest. This part of the onboarding process actually needs to start long before you hire. You might consider writing a description of job duties and expectations for them. When you advertise a job opening, make sure you detail the job and inform potential candidates of what will be expected. But more than that, you need to make sure the expectations you have for the new hire align with the information you gave candidates at the beginning of the process.

3. Establish a calendar.

You may think the onboarding process starts with morning coffee and ends at the end of the first day, but the onboarding process can (and should) take months to fully complete. Your calendar should change depending on the role and how much direct contact you will have with the employee, but as a rule of thumb, you should establish a calendar that allows you to check in with the new hire. You need to at least check in at 90 days, 6 months, and 1 year, but you may want to check in even more often. No matter how you choose to establish your calendar, just be sure you share it with the new hire.

4. Explain the company culture in as much detail as possible.

When a new employee starts, you have to keep in mind that they are going to be nervous and have lots of questions. As the person walking them through the process, it’s your job to give them insights and details into the company culture. Introduce them to the people they will be working with, show them around the office, and help them establish their role and fit into the culture.

Your employee onboarding process is crucial to the success of your company and your employee retention. When you have a well-established process, you can more successfully engage and retain the people you are hiring.

What questions about onboarding do you have? How can we help you become at engaging with your employees? Leave your questions and stories in the comments section below!

 

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Do You Fit with the Company Culture?

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Finding that perfect job is, well, overwhelming. From interviews to job offers, there is a lot of work that goes into finding a job. If you’re seriously looking for a job, then you’ll probably find that the job search is basically a full-time job in its own right. But even finding a job that you think sounds great, offers you the right compensation, and comes with incredible benefits may not end up being the dream job you’ve been looking for.

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